Late Bloomers
by DormeinsDraconis
Summary: Meet Sinead Gallagher, a 7th year Ravenclaw; bookish, shy around people she doesn't know, and not one for romance...until she meets Neville, who is two years her junior. Follow them on their journey of self-discovery, courage, and, above all else, love.
1. Chapter 1 Chance Encounter

Chapter 1- Near Collision

Another year at Hogwarts, Sinead's last, in fact. The dark-haired seventh year stood on Platform 9 ¾, looking up at the large scarlet steam engine that was leaving in just a few short minutes. A great cloud of steam puffed from the engine and wove its way through the platform, enveloping Sinead in its familiar humid self. She sighed and turned over her right shoulder, to look at her aunt and uncle who were seeing her off. "Don't be sad, love. You'll have a great year," Sinead looked up at the woman who spoke and shook her head, her light hazel eyes forlorn.

The woman, kind-faced and middle-aged, wrapped her niece in a tight hug and smoothed her dark hair before kissing the top of her head. "We know you love Hogwarts, Sinead. Just cherish the time you still have there. Besides, if you miss it that much you could always return as a teacher." Sinead pulled out of the comforting embrace and laughed, her eyes alight with amusement.

"Nona, you know I want to be a Healer," she smiled, shaking her head. She just couldn't imagine herself teaching at Hogwarts. She found that large groups of adolescents could be quite cruel, and though she loved Hogwarts she wasn't keen on repeating the bullying from her past. That wasn't to say she was a mean person, or unfriendly, but Sinead had always preferred the company of books to people. Books didn't bully, you see. Though the bullying had mostly stopped once she'd emerged from her awkward stage as a decently pretty girl in her fourth year, it still left scars and Sinead had retreated within herself. Her sunny disposition and goofy personality were silenced by fear when she was not with her friends. Those who did not know her simply thought her to be bookish and quiet. Nothing more. As a result, with the exception of Aoife, who had been her best friend since their first year, Sinead kept mostly to herself. And, being a Ravenclaw whose first priority was her academic career, being a bit of a loner suited her just fine.

"You should get on the train, Sinead. It's nearly eleven," Sinead registered the deep voice and turned her head to smile at her uncle.

"You're probably right, Pop," Sinead agreed. She looked from her aunt to her uncle and smiled brightly. "I'll miss you guys," she exclaimed, and wrapped an arm around each of them, pulling them both into a tight hug. "I'll write to you as soon as I can," she promised, and with one last kiss for both of them, Sinead hurried off to load her belongings onto the train and find a compartment.

"Sinead!" she heard a familiar voice call. She looked up from the ground (Sinead was prone to tripping, so liked to keep an eye on where she placed her feet) and spotted a familiar face down at the end of the train.

"Aoife!" Sinead exclaimed, nearly running to her best friend and enveloping her in a tight hug, "Looking lively as always. How was your summer?" they sat down opposite each other after closing the compartment door and Sinead grinned. If there was one thing she knew for sure, it was that Aoife always had an adventure over the summer holiday.

"Oh it was wonderful! We went to Italy for nearly three weeks and I met this guy-"

"Here we go," Sinead rolled her eyes and smirked, which caused Aoife to blush crimson.

"He was really nice! He was a Muggle, but oh you should have seen him! Worthy of the Greek gods, I swear!" Sinead quirked a brow and the girls dissolved into a fit of giggles.

They'd been on the train nearly an hour when Aoife stood, "I'm going to see if I can find Malcolm," she announced. Sinead waved her off, shaking her head in amusement. Aoife had always been a bit boy crazy, but she'd liked Malcolm since fourth year. It seemed Malcolm was interested in Aoife as well, but he could never bring himself to tell her so. Sinead couldn't blame him. Aoife could be a bit intimidating at times. Sinead took the opportunity of solitude to dig into one of her favorite books. The pages were yellow with age and the binding was all but falling apart, but it was one of Sinead's prized possessions. The book, a wizarding love story whose title had long since worn from the cover, had belonged to Sinead's mother who had disappeared during the first wizarding war.

Deciding after sometime that she needed a bathroom break, Sinead stood to go and use the loo. However, just as she reached out a pale hand to open the door, someone else did just that, causing Sinead to gasp with surprise and take a step backward, her hand at her heart.

"Have you seen a….toad?," Neville Longbottom had certainly not expected someone to be standing right in front of the door when he opened it, especially not a girl. And a pretty girl at that. "I…uhm….sorry…." he mumbled, looking down at the ground in embarrassment and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"N-no I haven't. Sorry," Sinead smiled, something in the boy's hazel eyes having caught her interest. He seemed kind, and Sinead could tell he was shy by the way he was blushing and looking anywhere but at her. It was much the same as the way she acted around people. Perhaps that was why she suddenly found a bit of courage and said, "Do you want some help looking for him?" Sinead swallowed hard, hardly daring to believe she'd reached out to someone new. The terror, however silly it seemed, was nearly overwhelming as she feared he would laugh and say no. However, his reaction was quite different.

Neville lifted his head and looked at the girl in surprise. There was no way. He must have heard her wrong. "Really?" he asked. When the girl nodded he allowed himself a small smile, "Yeah, sure. That'd be great. I'm, um, I'm Neville by the way." He said nervously, by way of introduction.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Sinead," she smiled hesitantly at Neville and reached her hands up to her long hair, twisting the ends as she did whenever she was nervous. "So, um, where should we look?"

The question snapped Neville back to reality- he had begun to stare- and he cleared his throat with a shrug, "I was just going to every compartment to search the corridor. This happens every year," he meant to sound nonchalant, but there was an unmistakable waver in his voice.

Sinead nodded and gestured to the hall, "Well, we'd better start searching then," they walked into the corridor and began their search, passing a stunned Aoife on their way. Sinead looked at her and smiled, knowing exactly what Aoife was thinking. Sinead hardly talked to anyone, let alone _boys_. Seeing her with one was a shock to the system. As Neville called out for his toad, Sinead glanced at him and smiled to herself. Something about him seemed different. Maybe it was because he seemed as shy as she was, but for some reason Sinead wasn't so afraid of Neville. She didn't feel she had to worry about being judged or ridiculed by him. She knew that could very well be a wrong first impression, but Sinead, for the first time in a long time, was willing to risk it.


	2. Chapter 2 New Arrival

"We haven't seen him, sorry Neville," this time it was Terry Boot shutting the compartment door. That had to be at least the tenth one they had tried, and Sinead could see that Neville was becoming discouraged. She bit her lower lip tucking a stray curl behind her right ear. She wasn't quite sure whether she should say something comforting or nothing at all.

"It's okay, Neville. I'm sure we'll find him," she reassured, reaching out her hand to pat his shoulder, but thinking better of it and letting her hand drop back to her side. Neville fixed her with a look of utter hopelessness.

"He's done this for five years. Maybe this is just the time that he gets away from me for good," his sentence ended in a mumble and he shuffled his feet. Sinead looked around them at the empty corridor, as though hoping to see Trevor the toad or a helpful face suddenly appear. However, no such thing happened and Sinead was at a loss for words. Once more she lifted her hand, hesitating halfway between their bodies before making contact with Neville's shoulder. The sudden touch made Neville snap his eyes up to Sinead and his expression was one full of surprise. Warmth seemed to radiate from the spot where Neville could feel the soft pressure of her hand on him and his cheeks flushed pink. "Erm, thanks," he smiled nervously and hesitantly patted Sinead's hand.

Sinead nodded, and let go of Neville after he patted her hand. His hand was rougher than she had expected, but not unpleasant. She started twisting the ends of her hair again, dropping her gaze nervously to the floor. "I, um, I should go back to my compartment. Nearly to school, still need to change," she explained, gesturing vaguely to herself.

Neville nodded and glanced at Sinead's street clothes as she gestured to them. "Right, yeah. I should too," he smiled at her again, causing a light to shine in his eyes, "maybe…maybe I'll see you at school. What house are you in?" he asked, trying to keep the hopefulness out of his voice. He knew it was unlikely she was a Gryffindor as he'd never seen her before, but being in the same house would mean that he'd have a better chance at seeing her again.

"Ravenclaw," she replied, noting how Neville's smile wavered slightly, "what about you?" she responded, already knowing that he must not be a Ravenclaw. She had never seen him before.

"Gryffindor,"

"Oh. Well…maybe we'll have some classes together. I should really go. Aoife's probably waiting for me. Um…I'll see you around?" Sinead had meant it as a statement, but was unsure whether Neville would want to see her again.

"Yeah. Yeah, definitely." He was still having a hard time believing that Sinead was actually giving him the time of day, but didn't voice that thought. He didn't want her to think he was _completely_ pathetic.

"Great," Sinead grinned, and it seemed light up the whole room. Neville was dazzled. "See you later then," having used the last of her courage, Sinead hurried to get back to her compartment. As soon as she slid open the door, Aoife pounced. She pulled Sinead inside quickly and shut the door with such force that it made an audible noise.

"Who was that boy? When did you meet him? What were you doing with him and when in the hell were you going to tell _me_ about it?" Aoife fumed, though her face was eager and her eyes bright.

Sinead laughed and shook her head, her dark curls bouncing on her shoulders, "Aoife you're getting ahead of yourself. It was nothing, I was just trying to help him find his pet," Aoife furrowed her brows and Sinead sighed, an amused look upon her pale face, "his name's Neville. He said he lost his toad on the train. I was just trying to help him find it," Sinead explained nonchalantly, though a girlishly coy smile threatened to form on her lips.

Aoife quirked a brow and looked at her knowingly. "You like him," It wasn't a question.

"What? No I don't! I don't even know him! I- we just met!" Sinead insisted, but she was blushing. No, she didn't _like_ like Neville, but he did seem nice. Though she supposed it didn't really matter, as she doubted that they would see much of each other being in different houses. "We need to change into our robes," it was a poorly veiled attempt to change the topic of conversation, but Aoife didn't call her out on it. Instead, they drew the curtain on the window of their compartment and changed into their school uniforms.

When they were dressed, the train began to slow and in just a few minutes, they were de-boarding at Hogsmeade station. As soon as they stepped onto the platform, aoife and Sinead were swept up into a sea of black cloaks and chatting students. Hagrid's familiar call of, "Firs' years! Firs' years this way!" could be heard down the length of the platform, and Sinead couldn't believe that this was the last time she would hear those words. With a sudden feeling of sadness in her heart, Sinead followed Aoife into an empty carriage and waited for the others students of Hogwarts to find seats. Sinead was looking out of the window on the left side of the carriage at the sea of students scrambling for seats. She was just beginning to wonder who would join them when the sound of footsteps and a subtle movement as someone climbed the steps to the carriage alerted her to another person joining them.

Looking to her right where the sound had come from, Sinead was met with Neville, her startled expression mirrored in his own features. Aoife looked positively gleeful. "Hi," Neville was the first to speak, looking at Sinead as he sat down across from them.

"Hi," Sinead replied, "Did you find your toad?" she asked, her tone genuine.

Neville nodded and pulled the creature from a pocket in his robes, "He'd been hiding under my seat the whole time," Neville shook his head, but there was laughter in his eyes.

Sinead chuckled as she began twisting the ends of her hair, looking down at her lap. Aoife looked from one to the other and smirked.

"So, Neville, what year are you?" it was Aoife who asked the question, for she wanted to know more about this boy that had the power to make Sinead actually talk.

"Me? I'm a fifth year," he replied, rubbing his hand nervously on his knees and wondering how this girl knew his name.

Aoife's brows rose in surprise and she looked over at Sinead as if to say 'did you hear that?'. Sinead glanced quickly at Aoife before looking back at Neville. A fifth year? Really? Suddenly, Sinead didn't see how she was ever going to get to know Neville. They wouldn't have classes together, they were in different houses…it seemed impossible.

"Why? What year are you guys?" Neville asked, his brows furrowed. He glanced worriedly at Sinead, sensing that his being a fifth year wasn't exactly a good thing.

"Seventh," Sinead replied, meeting Neville's gaze.

His heart plummeted right into his stomach. No wonder they had looked at each other like that. They were two years above him! And here he was, thinking they could have been friends!

The rest of the carriage ride was spent in an awkward silence, with Neville and Sinead stealing glances at each other when the other wasn't looking. Sinead's mind was reeling. A fifth year! Though for adults two years wasn't such a difference, as a teenager it felt like a big difference. But Sinead wasn't willing to write him off. That wouldn't be fair. Besides, hadn't her Nona always said that age was just a number? And he didn't seem as young as other fifth years. There was a more mature quality to him, though Sinead couldn't quite place what it was.

It wasn't until Aoife and Sinead were seated at their house table in the Great Hall that they spoke. "A fifth year, Sinead!" Aoife exclaimed, as if it were the most scandalous thing she'd ever heard. Sinead merely shrugged.

"I know," was her calm reply. She had already deduced in her mind that the year Neville was in didn't really matter. Sinead was ready to make a new friend, and something about Neville drew her to him. She didn't have time to look for him in the crowd, however, before Dumbledore announced the feast and their plates filled with food. Sometimes later, when everyone had had their fill, Dumbledore stood for the start of term speech. "Welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. I would first like to introduce Professor Grubbly-Plank, who will be taking over Care of Magical Creatures. We are also delighted to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge. Mr. Filch would like me to remind you that-"

"hem, hem," the hall was silent, as all eyes were drawn toward the right side of the high table.

No one ever interrupted Dumbledore's speech. The high pitched, "hem hem" was like needles under the skin. The woman, dressed from head to toe in pink with a great big bow on top of her toad-like head, stood and approached the center of the raised platform on which stood the high table. "how wonderful it is to be back at Hogwarts again, and have all your happy little faces smiling up at me," Sinead furrowed her brows, not understanding who Umbridge thought looked happy nor why they were being talked to like five year olds. "The Ministry of Magic has always been concerned with the education of witches and wizards and believes a proper, safe, appropriate education is of utmost importance. Progress is undoubtable important. However, progress for the _sake _of progress must be ended," Sinead looked at Aoife and saw her own skeptically, confused look mirrored in Aoife's eyes. The speech went on, but Sinead had stopped listening. Already she disliked that woman. It sounded as though the ministry was trying to intervene at Hogwarts, not help. It was suspicious, and there was something incredibly harsh lying under Umbridge's sugary voice. Sinead could feel it.

Their bodies heavy with food and their minds weighted with the strange start of term speech, the students were dismissed to their dormitories. Ravenclaw Tower had rarely felt so far away as Sinead and Aoife dragged themselves up flight after flight of stairs. She was numb with sleepiness as they finally reach their dorm and changed into pajamas. As soon as Sinead's head hit the pillow she was whisked off to the land of dreams, where Neville made several appearances.

If only Sinead had practiced more when taking Divination, she might have foreseen what a change this year would bring to her life.


End file.
